The numbers portray Jason Ramsey’s baseball career at UNCW as a paradox.

Over his three seasons with the Seahawks, his life became one, too.

Despite a below average fastball, the left-handed strikeout artist proved baseball experts wrong. Nearly two decades later, he still holds the school’s top two single-season strikeout records of 128 and 135, respectively. And in 1995, he won co-Pitcher of the Year in the Cape Cod League, widely acknowledged as the nation’s top summer collegiate league.

Yet the 5-foot-7 native of Jacksonville piled up those amazing numbers with a 13-18 career record – and still was named an all-CAA performer twice.

“His command and ability to get people out was phenomenal,” said former UNCW teammate John Avent, who also faced Ramsey in high school. “No matter who we played he pitched pretty dad gum good.”

For three seasons, Ramsey won so many of those battles on the field thanks to his mental toughness and determination. However, anxiety attacks and stress began wearing on his psyche.

By his senior season, Ramsey had lost the war. He was no longer a full-time student, not a member of the baseball team and his dreams of a professional career were gone.

The high school phenom

To understand Ramsey’s rise in prominence, journey back to his varsity career at Southwest Onslow High School.

For Ramsey, strikeouts and victories were linked. With the Stallions, he finished his four years with 475 strikeouts and a 37-2 record, with both losses in Class 1A state finals. As a senior in 1993, Ramsey threw a state-record 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, but was unaware of nearing the feat; only strikeouts and wins mattered to him.

Between innings, he tallied up strikeouts with little marks on the bill of his cap.

Yet Ramsey was naïve regarding baseball outside Onslow County.

Heading into his senior year, he had never heard of the State Games of North Carolina, held annually in the middle of the state. In 1992, he made the Region 2 team along with New Hanover outfielders Trot Nixon and Fletcher Bates, high draft picks in the 1993 Major League Draft.

After a 14-strikeout performance in the State Games, Ramsey realized he was a college prospect. Recruiting letters began arriving, and the attention caused him to intensify his weight training and throwing regimen. North Carolina and N.C. State expressed mild interest, but Ramsey responded by putting recruiting on the back burner to focus on football, where he became a two-year starter at center. Ramsey went out for football to stay in shape for baseball and develop mental toughness, which he thought might aid him on the mound.

“He was scrappy and a heck of a little center,” said Phil Padgett, his football and baseball coach at Southwest Onslow. “He was one of those kids who had it together.”

Page 2 of 4 - Padgett knew Ramsey’s future was on the diamond and looked on in wonder at Ramsey’s pinpoint control and mastery of the breaking ball.

“What separated him from anyone else in high school was he could throw strikes to any part of the plate at any time,” Padgett said.

Worry and motivation

As a high school junior, Ramsey went to a UNCW baseball camp, where Seahawks pitching coach Jerry Meyers taught him proper technique.

Ramsey had dominated Class 1A competition with a devastating curve ball, but threw only 83 to 85 mph. Fastball movement compensated for velocity, but when Meyers conducted videotape analysis during the session, it showed deficiencies in Ramsey’s throwing motion.

Ramsey recalled that Meyers spotted 10 flaws, but aimed to fix only two: Ramsey’s tendency to rock too far back during the delivery and a high leg kick.

“I would look up toward the sky and my back would arch way up and I threw as hard as I could,” he said.

Before the changes, despite all the exertion, Meyers clocked him at only 85 mph. In his senior debut, with an additional seven pounds of muscle and modified motion, he struck out 14 in a five-inning victory over East Duplin before seven college recruiters.

Afterward, to his delight, a Campbell University coach mentioned consistently clocking him at 87-89 mph.

“My mind set was, ‘I am 5-7 and fighting to get a Division I scholarship,’” Ramsey said.

Privately, Ramsey believed he could pitch for North Carolina and N.C. State, but Campbell and Western Carolina also were on his short list.

Then the Catamounts flew Ramsey to Asheville and drove him to Cullowhee on a recruiting visit, and the seriousness of the Catamounts’ interest frightened him. The previous year, Western Carolina came within one game of reaching the College World Series and thought Ramsey was one of the missing pieces.

“It was almost intimidating,” he said. “For the first time, I really questioned myself; am I good enough to do this?”

As hard as Ramsey threw in the season opener, his velocity dipped to 83-84 mph in his second start against Dixon. Afterward, a coach from East Carolina who showed up unexpectedly told him he did not throw hard enough to satisfy their requirement for a scholarship.

A few days later, another recruiter tried to console Ramsey with a Division II offer, insisting his size would be less a factor at a smaller school than at the bigger programs. The coach’s motives only provided incentive for Ramsey.

“That just fueled the fire and motivated me more,” he said. “Until then, I never knew I was short.”

The rise, and the fall

During the spring of his senior year, Ramsey reached out to Meyers. He felt a comfort level and sense of loyalty to the man who had helped him the year before.

Page 3 of 4 - After receiving his SAT scores, he committed to UNCW late in the spring of 1993. That fall, he and Meyers began working on a changeup to add to Ramsey’s arsenal of pitches. As a freshman in 1994, Ramsey went a forgettable 3-5 with a 6.33 ERA in 11 relief appearances, five starts and one complete game.

After that season, though, he mastered the changeup Meyers taught him, and Ramsey set a single-season Colonial Athletic Association record with 128 strikeouts in only 106 2/3 innings and compiled a 2.11 ERA. He struck out 12 against both N.C. State and Wake Forest, and earned his first save.

“He threw that changeup on any count and it made his fastball look better,” Avent said. “He also had a great pickoff move, so he had the total package as a pitcher.”

Despite the dominance, Ramsey only made the CAA second team before heading to the Cape Cod League to demonstrate he was among the nation’s elite. With Chatham, he went 5-1 with a 1.14 ERA and started the league all-star game in front of 60 scouts.

“He had a good feel for pitching and was able to consistently repeat his delivery,” veteran scout John Castleberry remembers. “He threw strikes and his changeup was a plus pitch and he competed well on every pitch.”

From there, things slowly fell apart.

Meyers had left UNCW to join Old Dominion as its pitching coach. Ramsey’s anxiety disorder started to affect him at a more regular level, even as he improved his CAA record for strikeouts in a season (135) and received CAA first-team honors.

He had a season of eligibility left, but Ramsey said he was uncertain if he could pitch as a senior because of heart palpitations, triggered, doctors told him, by anxiety.

To satisfy his scholarship requirements in case he returned in 1997, he needed to take a minimum 12 semester hours. Bewildered, instead Ramsey registered for two classes he already had taken. Down to six hours for the fall semester, he became a part-time student and forfeited the remainder of his scholarship. Over the 1996 and 1997 baseball drafts, 28 players from the 1995 Cape Cod season were selected by major-league franchises. Ramsey was not one of them.

“That still haunts me every day,” he said, “not being able to go pro and continue my dream to pitch in the big leagues.”

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Jason Ramsey rose to collegiate sports prominence for his stellar pitching performance at UNCW. Here are some of his stats and records: